Union residents ask Evansville to consider them in growth plans
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Evansville's Smart Growth Plan is raising concerns from residents outside the city about plans for expansion. The Evansville Plan Commission unanimously recommended the Smart Growth Plan be approved by the city council. Kyle Geissler reports. You can read more in Tuesday's Janesville Gazette.
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Evansville city planner John Stockham, center, stands in front of the plan commission and explains the proposed changes to the city's growth plans to the audience. The public hearing was moved to the high school to accommodate an expected large crowd.
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Members of the audience at an Evansville planning commission public hearing listen as to a speaker address the commission. The meeting was moved to the city's high school in anticipation of a large number of people turning out for the meeting.
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Evansville future growth plan
EVANSVILLE — Several Union Township residents questioned Monday night why the city of Evansville has to grow and wondered why the town wasn’t more involved in planning for the projected growth.
“I just don’t understand what the city is trying to do,” said Rich Templeton, who has lived on Evansville Brooklyn Road for 67 years. “Growth is something you allow, and I really don’t think you’ve got to keep sprawling out and out and out. Why don’t you start going up and save some of the farmland.”
Templeton was one of 15 people who spoke Monday during a public hearing at the city’s plan commission meeting about an amendment to the city’s Smart Growth Plan. The commission later unanimously recommended approval to the city council of the amendments, which for the first time add a 20-year growth boundary to the city map.
The council also will have a public hearing on the amendments.
The hearing was a continuation of one that started April 4, when no comments were taken because so many people packed City Hall that about 100 people lined up outside. Monday night, about 80 people attended at the larger venue—the Performing Arts Center inside Evansville High School.
City Planner John Stockham opened with state estimates that predict the city will grow by about 8,200 people by 2030. Evansville historically has grown by about 40 single-family homes per year, he said, and the city has 291 vacant platted lots. That equals about 7.3 years of inventory, he said.
Stockham also addressed the issue so many town residents were concerned about: city annexation.
The only two legal ways Evansville could annex Union land is by a petition from the majority of landowners or if the city and town enter a mutual boundary agreement, he said.
The 20-year growth boundary line was added after planners determined the township areas that the new city wastewater treatment plant could service, with four new lift stations, he said.
George Franklin, a supervisor in Union, wondered where the city plans to grow when city officials say they have no plans to annex in the near future.
“I would like to know where are you going to grow without taking in all of our subdivisions? … It just doesn’t make sense to me. I would like to see more common sense here and work together and talk about this more,” he said. “I just think if you take all our subdivisions, where’s our tax base?”
Union Supervisor Kim Gruebling received applause after recommending the commission table the issue for six months, “and see what we can do about working together on a plan.” Since the city has enough vacant lots for seven years, he said, tabling the plan probably wouldn’t hurt.
City officials stated at the meeting and in newspaper articles that the city has no plans for annexation in the near future, Gruebling said, so he asked that that be put in writing in the amendments to ease residents’ concerns.
The commission agreed to add language stating the city could only annex land through a landowner petition or mutual boundary agreement with the town.
While the commission heard repeated requests for the city to include town residents in growth discussions, Mayor Sandy Decker noted four town residents served on the original city Smart Growth committee.
She said she attended many of the Union Smart Growth meetings, and no city residents had a seat at the table.
“I respectfully am scratching my head at why we’re making an amendment to our Smart Growth Plan,” she said, “and I am hearing that we have to have everybody at the table, and that wasn’t the case when the plan was put together for the Town of Union, and I’m just making that observation.”
Evansville, Union meeting together
The Evansville City Council and Union Town Board met for the first time last month to discuss how they can work better together. That discussion resulted in an agreement to continue joint monthly meetings to explore collaboration and growth issues.
The city and town officials will meet at 7 p.m. Monday at the Evansville Fire Station, 425 Water St., Evansville. The agenda includes a history on the relationship between the town and city and a presentation by state officials on extraterritorial jurisdiction and boundary agreements.
May 4, 2011 at 10:59 p.m.
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Something that Eville & Union should do is MERGE!!! It works in Fitchburg with both a city and rural setting. Why not here?
You could call this new place Evion or "highly-taxed-bedroom-community-that-is-floundering" (wait...THAT won't fit on the sign....better stick with Evion)
They share a F.D. and EMT service already. A merger would not be difficult to do at all.
IF this were to happen....the residents of the "fringe" subdivision on the far east side of Evill will get city water & sewer (before thier septics fail) AND they can still complain about the "bright lights" from the gas station-hardware store-strip mall that they never considered (or were told about by thier "developer") when they moved there.
Eville will get its greedy tax $$$ the mayor and council so desperately need to pay for the pinwheel and Union will finally get its roads snowplowed decently!! It's a WIN-WIN deal!!!
May 4, 2011 at 1:17 p.m.
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Urban development costs more in taxes than open land/farmland because of the high costs of infrastructure, maintenance, police, fire, schools, etc. Don't get fooled into the "we have to grow in order for the City to survive" scenario. It's proven wrong time and time again - check out the reports at farmland.org
Smart growth = smaller urban lots, growth up and not out, re-development instead of new, and smaller, walkable neighborhoods. McMansions on huge lots are not sustainable.
With only 3% of the entire earth's surface offering inherently fertile soils, we should be looking at every single acre before zoning out of ag. With an estimated 10.1 billion people on earth by the end of this century, every acre will be needed for food production.
May 3, 2011 at 9:37 p.m.
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It's obvious, Evansville is looking for additional tax base. Union Township, consider yourself put on notice - you're it!
May 3, 2011 at 4:40 p.m.
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Dang Union thugs!
May 3, 2011 at 4:25 p.m.
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Jarod, this land they annexed in not all owned by people who want their land annexed, some is in flood zones, why annex land in flood zones?
May 3, 2011 at 4:23 p.m.
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They the council had this decided before they ever voted. Talk about something smelly in Evansville and, its not the dead fish in the smelly lake but the council. So much for wanting to limit growth. They are desperate for money. The mayor has left the town with no money with all her fancy projects. What is funny is they are going to open the pool this year and not fix it, let it leak. Really? The other strange thing about this is one of the contractors who has the council by their short hairs already has his lift station design in place, now try to tell me something does not smell.
May 3, 2011 at 4:22 p.m.
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Totally confused about the map of the east side of town. Does someone plan on tearing down Stoughton Trailers to move highway 14 south of where is right now? East Main street is Highway 14 all the way to the city limits.... but not by this map!
May 3, 2011 at 4:18 p.m.
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The City will grow because WI State Statutes allow them to take property if the property owner is willing to sell to a city or be annexed. They don't need the permission of the Town that the land is in. The Town has no legal recourse to stop it - the Statutes were written not to protect farmland, but to promote growth by the cities.
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